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An academic has disputed the idea that you can get all the nutrients you need from a well balanced dietCredit:
Aleksandr Kuzmin

Are you sitting comfortably? If so, you’re probably nutritionally deprived, according to Dr Paul Clayton, a former scientific adviser to the government. Dr Clayton argues that homo sapiens has become “homo sedens”, a species whose inactive habits leave a looming gap between the quantity of food we require for adequate nutrition, and the calories it contains. NHS guidelines recommend a daily intake of 2,500 calories for a man and 2,000 for a woman, but Dr Clayton argues that “correct” nutrition requires 3,000-odd calories a day.

We writers are sedentary types, so who knows what hidden deficiencies I may be harbouring, thanks to my inadequate diet? Or even my adequate diet – for according to Dr...